Benjamin mobbis



(No Model.)

, B. MORRIS.

COFFIN. No. 338,607. Patented Mar. 23, 1886.

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NiTED STATES PATENT OF ICE.

BENJAMIN MORRIS, OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY.

COFFIN.

SPBGZFIGATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 338,607, dated March 23, 1886.

(No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be itknown that I, BENJAMIN lVIORRIS,a citizen of the United States, residing at Newark, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, haveinvented certain new and useful lmprovementsin Catches and Fasteners for Coffins; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

The object of this invention is to facilitate the process of securing the lid or cover upon the body of the coflin or casket, to reduce the cost of constructing the fastenings, to simplify and to more perfectly conceal them, so that the appearance of the coffin will not be marred thereby.

The invention consists in the peculiar arrangements and combinations of parts, substantially as will be hereinafter set forth, and finally embodied in the clauses of the claims.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, in

which like lettersindicate corresponding parts in each of the several figures, Figure l is a plan of the under side of a coffin or casket cover. Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal section of a casket and its cover, the inner walls thereof being broken away to show the catching and fastening devices in vertical section. Fig. 3 is a section of a portion of a coffin, taken through line X. Fig. 4 is a detail perspective View of a combined catch and fastener. Figs. 5 and 6 are respectively a plan and longitudinal vertical section ofa portion ofa coffin,shoW- ing a slightly modified construction; and Fig. 7 is a detail side elevation of said coffin to show a certain preferred construction.

In said drawings, a indicates the body of the coffin or casket, and b the lid or cover thereof. Upon the under side of the lid or cover are secured catches c c and fasteners d d, and on the edges of the body are formed or secured suitable co-operating catches, e e, and fasteners f f, said catches e 0 being preferably ordinary screws, because of their cheapness, the ease of application thereof, and the fact that they are hardly noticeable when the cover of the coffin is removed from the body. The

catches to engage the heads of said screws are provided with bifurcations g g, which extend over a recess, 71., formed in the cover, the said bifurcations spreading or flaring, or being rounded or beveled off at their ends, as clearly indicated in Fig. 4., to allow an easy and certain insertion of the screw-head as the coffincover is pushed forward longitudinally. Back of the bifurcations the plate is provided with meanssuch as the screW-holeswhereby it may be secured to the cover. The recess h preferably extends beyond the ends of the bifurcations, as indicated in Fig. 1. The plate is not, as heretofore, provided with objectionable catching projections tending to mar the appearance of the cover, but lies fiat on the bottom face of the cover. This catching-plate, being of simple outline and construction, is readily struck from sheet metal at a very small cost when produced in quantities, and as they are thus quite thin the need of special mortising to form a recess for the plate is avoided; but the slight projection from the said face is sufficient to prevent the two faces, the edge of the body, and bottom of the cover from coming into close frictional contact.

For the head of the coffin or casket I pro- Vide a plate not onlyhaving the catching parts above described, but, in addition, having fastening parts (I d in one piece with the catches c, the fastenings being bent, as in Figs. 2 and 4, so that it will project slightly away from the edge of the cover. The fastening part may be in itself a spring, or may be actuated by a spring independent thereof, and is thus automatic in operation.

To engage with the fastener and cooperate with the same in preventing a longitudinal backward action of the cover, I have formed in or on the body, preferably in the depression m. a suitable stop projection or co-operating fastener, f, above mentioned,which may be either the end Wall of the depression m, as in Figs. 5 and 6, or a pin, as in Fig. 2. which may enter a perforation or recess in the proj ecting spring.

Although the plates 0 and c (I may be sunk into the cover, as represented in Figs. 1, 2, and 3, I prefer, especially in cloth-covered caskets, to apply them so that they project slightly above the surface and take the weight of the cover, and materiallyreduce the frictional surfaces, so that a straight longitudinal movement of the cover on the body is made easy, and the need of inclined surfaces for separating the cover from the body is obviated, although such inclines may be employed, if desired.

At points between the catches for the head and foot portions of the cover are secured simple or plain sheet-metal plates of about the same thickness as the catch-plates, as shown in Fig. 1 at s .9. These serve to prevent the cover from sagging at the middle and coming into frictional contact with the body.

I11 the drawings, Fig. 1, mark the plates above referred to, s s.

In operatingthe device the headed screwcatches of the body of the coffin enter the recesses h in the COVQ1,Wh6n the latter is placed in position on said body. A straight longitudinal forward movement made easy by the anti-frictioi1 pieces, causes the bifurcations g g to enter under the heads of the screws 6 e, which project above the edges of the body, making at once a close engagement, so that there will be no vertical play of the cover. As the plate at the end of the opening be tween the bifurcations strikes the screw, the fastener d passes automatically into the recess m, the end of said fastener either engaging the end wall of the recess or the perforation in said fastener catching upon the pin or projection so that the bifurcations cannot pass backward from holding contact with the screws. v To enable the cover to be unfastened,I have provided the fastener d with a lifting-finger, d, which projects beyond the side of the coffin-body to allow the undertaker to pass beneath it when raising the cover, so that the processes of unfastening, raising, and drawing the lid or cover may be accomplished by one continuous movement of the hand. On lifting the finger-piece d the spring-fastener can be raised from catching engagement with its co-operating part.

It is obvious that a transposition of parts from thelid to the body, and vice versa, can be made without departing from this invention,

and that changes ot'form and construction and departures from the positively express descriptions can be effected without avoiding what is covered by the claims,

Having thus described the invention, what I claim as new is- 1. The combination, with the cover and body of a coffin and a cooperating catch, of a flat catch-plate secured on the face of said body or cover, andprojecting from said face to slightly separate the said body and cover and present a broad and smooth bearingsurface, substantially as set forth.

2. In combination with the coffin cover and body,flat sheet anti-friction plates secured on the face of one of said parts to hold them slightly apart, and thus reduce friction as the parts slide on one another, substantially as set forth.

3. The combination,with the body and cover of the coffin having catches near the head and foot thereof, as shown, of intermediate anti-friction plates, 8 s, to prevent the central portions of the cover from sagging, substantially as set forth.

4. The combination,with the body and cover of a coffin, of a flat sheet catching-plate, 0, having at one end bifurcations g g, to engage a co-operatin g catch,substantially as set forth.

5. In a coffin, the combined catch and automatic fastener consisting, essentially, of the plate bifurcated at one end to engage a co-opcrating catch and bent at the other to spring automatically into engagement with the fastening projection and prevent disengagement of the catching portion, substantially as set forth.

6. In a coifin', the combined catch and fastener consisting, essentially, of a plate, 0, having bifurcations g g, bent end d, and laterallyextending finger-piece d, said parts being arranged and combined substantially as set forth, for the purposes stated.

7. In combination,the coffin body and cover, co-operating catches e 0, arranged on the edges of the body and under side of the cover to hold said body and cover together, and a fastening-spring seated or affixed to one of said parts and bent to project from the said one part and enter. automatically into holding engagement with a co-operating stop on the other, to prevent back motion of the cover and the disengagement of the catches, substans'tantially as set forth.

8. In combination, the'coflin body and cover, co-operatin'g catches e e, to hold said cover to said body, a fastening-spring bent to project from the face of the part on which it is fixed, a stop to receive the projecting end of said spring and prevent back motion of the cover and disengagement of the catches, said projecting springbeing provided with a laterallyextending spring which projects beyond the edge of the body and lies beneath the overhanging edge of the lid, substantially as set forth.

9. In combination with a casket-body having a recess, m, in the edge thereof, and suitable catches to hold down the cover, and said cover having suitable co-operating catches to engage those on the body, and a fastening- IOO spring fixed upon' the cover and projecting therefrom to enter the said recess m and engage the end wall thereof, substantially as set forth. v

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand this 5th day of December, 1885.

BENJAMIN MORRIS.

\Vitnesses:

CHARLES H. PILL,

OSCAR A. MICHEL. 

